There are grave concerns that some “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) notices were invalid and could have cost lives.

Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín raised the issue after speaking with many concerned families and constituents.

He said he found it deeply concerning that there are increasing numbers of families alleging that DNR notices have appeared in the medical files of their family members despite never having given their consent.

“This raises serious question as to how this seems to have happened with far too much regularity to be accidental. Is there a lack of clear guidelines or protocol around the consent required? Or, are medical personnel taking matters into their own hands in terms of DNR notices? One family spoke to me, told me how the Mater Hospital had recorded in their mother’s medical file that their mother should not be resuscitated if the circumstance should arrive. However, this consent was not given by any of those family members. When the matter was raised with the Mater Hospital, they stated DNR consent had been discussed with the family. The family dispute this and claim it never was discussed. How can there be such a divergence in accounts of that consent when it comes to such a fundamental issue such as whether or not to save a person’s life or not?”

“How widespread is this issue? Why is it occurring? How many lives have been lost because a DNR Notice was incorrectly inserted in their medical file? There needs to be a comprehensive review of these allegations to ensure that lives are not lost against a family’s wishes.”